Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 112,118 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 79.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 252,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 112,118 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $13,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in California Water Service Group by 255.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $29,365.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,157.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,665 shares of company stock worth $90,093. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $51.62 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.31. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $43.50 and a twelve month high of $56.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The company had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services.